In cotton baling, common practices are to wet a cotton bale before compressing it so that cotton fibers in the wetted bale are limp, to compress the wetted bale, to tie the compressed bale with steel strapping or wire ties, and to wrap the tied bale for storage and shipment. It is known for other fibers to be similarly baled with or without a wetting step.
Commonly, water vapor-pervious bags of nonwoven polypropylene are used to wrap the tied bales. Water vapor-pervious bags are used to permit humidity within such bags to equilibrate with humidity outside such bags in the storage and shipment environments.
Usage of such bags is problematic, however, since it is difficult to dispose of such bags, which are bulky and occupy large spaces in landfills. Recycling of such bags may not be economically feasible.
There has been a need, to which this invention is addressed, for a better way to wrap such a bale.